Worldwide Pinhole Day, A Day To Try Something New

Worldwide Pinhole Day is tomorrow, April 25th, and making a pinhole camera has been on my list for years. So I decided to take some time this year and give it a go. Uhg. I did not do so well. Turns out turning your dSLR body cap into a pinhole lens is harder than it looks. And I am pretty good with tools - really.

I was going for something similar to a watercolor look with my setup, and I got something that looks more like it was taken way out of focus with a normal lens. Soft, even for a pinhole. But I still do not consider the day a failure. It only took me a few hours to convert my cap and I learned a bunch along the way. Having a nice clean, round pinhole is the hardest part it seems. Using a needle does produce a hole but I could not keep it round enough. I have read you can get a #80 wire gauge drill bit and get a pretty good hole. I did find some online and may order a set to work on next years design. And besides needing more tools (who doesn't?) I was able to relax and focus on things other than being in focus.

I spend a lot of time editing my wildlife shots looking for tack sharp photos, so this was a great day to experiment and push myself to try something new. Even though I did not get a pinhole photo that will make my portfolio I really enjoyed the experience. Enjoy!